There’s something beautiful about handwritten items. I don’t know why, there just is. There’s something alluring about a gilded notebook, filled with curvy, scrawled handwriting. The only problem? It takes forever to write that 1000 page book on Aristotle’s theories. The point being: to write or not to write by hand?

In defense of writing by hand, I present my first argument: traditional beauty. It’s something that everyone has done at one time or another and many great books from our past have been written by hand. So why not? Picking up a pen and writing by hand is

Handwriting

something that you’ll look back on and sigh with anticipation at. Another reason is improving your handwriting. It sounds silly, but this is a great reason to write by hand. Another good reason is that you never have to worry about your computer quitting all of a sudden. Paper is easily kept up, once separated from the usual haphazards.

Now, to crumble the dreams of writing by hand, mwa-ha-ha (imagine the lawyer from Mr. Toad). Typing is easier. It simply is. Fixing a mistake has never been simpler and writing straight is no longer a problem. You are also developing some great piano fingers (believe me, I know). Another thing is, the document will never crumble with age (at least, as long as your computer runs that long) and a little water can’t hurt it. It’s also a lot faster than writing by hand. If you’re one of those writers who can go up to 80 per minute, like me, you’ll be done with your novel in a couple months; that is, if your brain and imagination can catch up to your fingers.

To tell you the truth, I prefer to write by hand. I love looping and curving my words and feeling a writing vessel in my hand. However, necessity requires that if I am to attempt to finish my novel, I must type. My brain’s slow too slow and my creative juices a tad faster.

Is writing by hand truly better than typing (or vice versa)? What’s your take on it?